Security Charges Against a Teachers' Union Activist; Ismail Abdi on the Verge of Dismissal from the Ministry of Education

The Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran reported on Wednesday, August 22, that the initial committee investigating administrative violations in the education department of Tehran's counties has accused Ismail Abdi of several security-related charges. According to the report, Mr. Abdi is accused of 'participating in illegal sit-ins, strikes, and demonstrations,' 'exerting group pressure for illegal educational purposes through membership in the teachers' union,' 'leading national teachers' protests,' and 'participating in sit-ins and gatherings that led to arrests and convictions.' The council stated that the accusations relate to this activist's activities between 2006 and 2015, and after a long prison term, he now faces such 'baseless accusations' raised by the committee after ten years, putting him on the brink of dismissal from the Ministry of Education. The council also reported that Mokhtar Asadi, a teachers' union activist, has been transferred to Tehran after being arrested in Sanandaj. The report indicates that the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, on behalf of Branch 33 of Evin Prosecutor's Office, arrested Mr. Asadi and transferred him to Tehran for 'further proceedings.' Mokhtar Asadi has been imprisoned multiple times since the 2000s. Currently, several teachers' union activists, such as Rasoul Badaghi, are serving time in the Islamic Republic's prisons on security charges, while others are free on bail. Meanwhile, the teachers' union of Bushehr Province announced that the Fourth Branch of the Bushehr Court of Appeals has ordered Mohsen Omrani, Asghar Hajab, Mahmoud Malaki, and Abdolreza Amani Far, members of the board of the Bushehr teachers' union, to pay a total of 960 million rials in exchange for prison sentences previously issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Bushehr Province (240 million rials per individual). This ruling comes at a time when teachers have been protesting for years over their living conditions and the injustice in the salary payment system; all of their wages are below the poverty line, which will lead to the decline of public education in the country and its subsequent consequences. The Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran reported that Masoud Farhikhtah, a teachers' union activist, was acquitted of the charges against him by the Kurdistan Province Court of Appeals. Mr. Farhikhtah, a member of the board of the Islamic City Teachers' Association, was arrested on June 1, 2022, while returning from Sanandaj after supporting imprisoned teachers from the Marivan Teachers' Association and was released on bail eight days later. This teachers' union activist was sentenced to three months in prison for 'propaganda against the regime,' which was later converted to an 8 million toman fine. According to the report, Majid Karimi, another teachers' union activist, was also acquitted of the charges against him by the Kurdistan Province Court of Appeals. He, who is a member of the board of the Sanandaj Teachers' Association, was previously sentenced to three months in prison for 'propaganda against the regime,' which was eventually converted to an 8 million toman fine. Mr. Karimi was arrested during teachers' protests in early 2022 and was transferred for interrogation to the Sanandaj Intelligence Office. After a week in solitary confinement at the Sanandaj Intelligence Office, he was transferred to the city's prison. This teachers' union activist was temporarily released from prison on June 7 of the same year after posting bail.